While many things will stay the same, citizens may notice a few changes to how Kyle City Council will lead its meetings.

Stepping on the dias for the first time as mayor on Nov. 21, Travis Mitchell started Kyle’s City Council meeting with a discussion of amending the rules of city council.

Council Proceedings

It is now acceptable for council members to receive the agenda at least three business days before a scheduled meeting instead of four general days which constitutes an additional day. In addition, the mayor, working in conjunction with the city manager, may now modify the posted agenda up to 72 hours prior to the meeting.

When council members now vote, if any member of the council abstains from a vote, the member must immediately fill out an affidavit with the city secretary stating the conflict of interest or reason for not voting.

The biggest change overall is that prior to a motion council cannot debate on issue. They may only ask questions or provide factual statements. Mitchell said this would cut down meeting times.

Citizen Participation

The mayor or chair will make sure that a citizen’s comment is of general importance to the city and its operation. The mayor or chair will also make sure that council and city staff will not discuss a citizen’s comment unless it is related to the agenda or requires clarification for procedural issues.

During the citizen comment portion of the meeting, if a citizen requests city council take action on a matter that requires legislation or other official action of the city council, the mayor or chair will let the person know that a member may add it to the agenda for future discussion.

The mayor and chair are also responsible for ensuring orderly conduct of participants during city council meetings.

Council Member Daphne Tenario was concerned about the vagueness of the rule and feared that citizens would not feel comfortable openly speaking. Mitchell assured everyone that rules are in place to make sure that the council respects the citizens and vice versa.

Council voted 6-1 to approve the amendments to the rules.